How do you answer the question of why you monitor scanner traffic?

[Hans13]

This is very true. Also, I get amused some times because the same surnames as kept showing up back when I was an RDS (quit in '95) continue to show up. One of the older Deputies I often rode with back then had a theory that there is a "crime gene," and he once showed me old book-in records going back into the 1880s...sure enough, there were a lot of the same surnames, just different given names. Generations of criminals, in other words. I don't know if it really works that way or if they were just imitating their parents but it was amusing at the time and when I hear those same surnames now, children and grandchildren of people who I often helped bring in on what seemed like every other Saturday night, I get caught between chuckling and shaking my head at how sad and pathetic the whole thing is.

Exactly. Nature, nurture, or both... it certainly defied simple chance.

 

[ScannerMan1989]

They were raised around trouble DJ Boy could I name some from my area....

 

[ScannerMan1989]

I also listen in to learn about how the officers do their jobs. After ten years of listening in my current jurisdiction ALONE, I COULD attend the citizen police academy... MAN does that class fill up QUICKLY ever year....

 

[KD0TAZ]

My grandmother had been involved with our volunteer EMS since my dad was a kid, and when I was a kid she had an 8 channel Bearcat IV that was always on and had the police, fire, and EMS on it. I loved going over there to listen to it. For my 13th birthday she bought me a 30 channel Radio Shack digital scanner and the Police Call book. Man I went nuts seeing what I could pull in. I even put an antenna on the roof to improve my reception. Been listening ever since! (...and I'm really nosy...)

Moving to Kansas was my first venture into P25.. My city switched over less than a year after I moved here, and I bought a Pro 197 so I could listen again. However it got really old only being able to listen in my truck, and too expensive to buy another one. Enter streaming lol... That's right, my scanner stream was put up PURELY for selfish reasons - so I could listen to it wherever/whenever. But it gained a loyal following - even by LEO/FD/EMS members, and I felt good that it was appreciated by so many people. I moved to a different town last year and the first thing I did as soon as I had my internet turned on was set up another stream for here (....because I'm nosy....), and once again word got around and I have plenty of new regulars here.

 

[scannersnstuff]

I've listened since around 1977. I've always been interested in public safety. I was on a ems squad. I used scanning as an adjunct to security job's. As an adult, I was a career public safety telecommunicator, with a municipal pd. I've always been a fire buff. As somewhat of a prepper, scanning come's in handy. I would say that for most of my awake time, I have several receiver's on. On the downside, I would say that the hobby did put a strain on my married life,but was not the primary cause of a breakup. For the most part, my wife was pretty understanding,and supported my hobby. I've heard this many time's before, scanning kept me out of bar's at night.

 

[RadioShackCEO]

Been listening for years...never really thought about "why." I guess I'm just nosey too lol!

 

[darkness975]

I am sorry to keep hearing that our hobby is slowly dying a painful death because its been such a great time seeing the technology grow.

Some are saying this is happening and others are saying it is not. It's a hard line to draw in the sand.

 

[n1das]

How I answer the question depends on who I'm dealing with. I grew up in a college town and went to college in a (different) college town. It was at the state U and it had a reputation for being a party school. Weekends started on Thursday and there were always problems associated with mixing immaturity and alcohol. It made for some great scanner listening on weekend nights, particularly during homecoming weekend. One time I had a falling down drunk frat boy come up to me and asked "hey man, what's the walkie talkie for?" I just said "It's authorized by the government" (it's true!) and continued walking. His reaction was priceless as it left him in a real tizzy while drunk.




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[2e0wes]

i started out scanning in the mid 80s in the uk listening to the police, but not just because im nosey, but because im helpfull. there has been numerous time that i called the police and said tell officer badge #, the person they are looking for is in the trash can with the number 32 on, 15 feet in front of them. this is why i am against total encription.
i used to run a bearcat ubc900xlt and a yaesu mvt7100, and turned to ham for a fix when the uk went quiet in early 2000.

 

[jondainty]

There is ample reason to monitor the goings-on in my communities (I work in one and live in another). As a storm spotter with city OEM, I get advance warning of hinky atmospherics in the area. As a city volunteer, I frequently end up working with police officers and firefighters on non-emergency events. My scanner lets me know what the Illinois State Police are up to while I'm working in a completely different type of job. Lastly, it's fun.

 

[nicknpd]

I was a dispatcher then comm division management for years. Now that I don’t listen to a radio as a full time job, I kinda miss it every so often.

 

[6079smithw]

As an OTR driver, (semi-retired now) I lost count of the times having a BCT-7 tuned to CalTrans saved my bacon over Donner Summit in the winter! I did a linehaul from Reno to Sacramento and would copy the Kingvale site when they told the crews to close the road for whatever... I'd grab an alternate route and make it over the hill while everyone else was stuck behind the closure. Also came in handy to know when/where I'd have to put on tire chains on I-80 or US 50. Many times the road information signs and phone info wouldn't be updated for up to an hour if they were busy and by the time you found out it was usually too late to turn around/refuel etc. I got challenged a few times about the scanner by DOT or CHP at the scales or inspection stations but always carried a copy of my ham license along with the cab cards.
And, like Mr. Jon said in a previous post... it's fun!

 

[darkness975]

when the uk went quiet in early 2000.

All of the UK?

 

[2e0wes]

Yes,